i often hear myself use the following argument with people who ask me about veganism: "it's just so eeeeeasy" and this is how it honestly seems in my brain. compare, if you would, the nastyness of meat and dairy farming and the 'difficulties' that your average cow goes through, with the supreme (conceptual at least) easyness of not eating something. this is obvious, of course. and for me, it really is easy 99% of the time, to the point of being utterly unaware of it. the exceptions usually being when eating with omni friends and colleagues.

but at other times, as someone who has lived in a number of places where being vegan is as normal as having an extra head, i've said to myself "it's quite tough, this".

some times i can say both of these things to myself in the course of the same day. life's complex, eh?

easy or difficult....what should people expect if they give it a go?

Rosemary

02-23-2003, 04:39 AM

I found making the transition from omni to veg and then vegan difficult--I simply didn't know what to eat (that was tasty and easy to prepare--this was long ago when veggie burgers and such were not widely available in supermarkets).

However, after the first couple of years I find it easy, at least most of the time. At this point it would be very difficult to go back to omnivorism, even if I wanted to, because I am just not used to preparing those "foods".

Angelus71

02-23-2003, 05:53 AM

I found it really easy. :)

VeganMegan

02-23-2003, 07:49 AM

I too found it very easy. It isn't even something I think about anymore.

herbi

02-23-2003, 08:49 AM

Originally posted by penfold
some times i can say both of these things to myself in the course of the same day. life's complex, eh?

easy or difficult....what should people expect if they give it a go?

I agree... complex issue... Considering that for YEARS whenever I would think about veganism (wrestled with it subconsciously for a long time) I would say things like, "I could NEVER do that!" "There'd be NOTHING for me to eat!" etc... I find the reality, quite the opposite, to be astonishingly wonderfully EASY!!! :D But I don't know that I'd represent it as such to someone thinking about trying it out... I am lucky to have some real-time 3-D interactive vegan buddies as well as you guys, not to mention vegan coworkers (now there's 3 of us, it's officially enough that the Bagel Bringer pretty much has to bring Tofutti as well as cream cheese... heh heh...) and plenty of food options around town. So part of the easiness for me is feeling supported and not isolated. But I know that if I were, for example, still living with my meatie (bordering on Atkins!) parents in semi-rural Indiana, it would be much much harder. I guess I'd just tell someone in those circumstances, "It might NOT be easy, but it's worth it." I don't want my air of breezy effortless relief to imply that I don't understand/respect anyone who is really struggling with it and having a hard time, you know?
(Gee, I'm glad you didn't make this into a flat-out "EASY/HARD" poll!!! :rolleyes: )

VeganKen

02-23-2003, 08:50 AM

I agree with penfold, the hardest times are dealing with omni's when out to eat. Or dealing with 'baiters' who are just trying to piss you off. Otherwise, I enjoy cooking so that's a cinch. The wide variety of clothing and shoe options make it really easy. I do not feel like I'm lacking for anything. I mean, there's tofutte-cuties. What more does a guy need?! :D

iamtheqbu

02-23-2003, 12:56 PM

The easy part of being vegan is the diet. It's not hard to find good vegan food, even in college. The hard part is explaining yourself to your friends and family (especially if your father is a self centered conservative anal retentive "I'm always right, you're wrong" "I'm smart, you're dumb" lazy good-for-nothing over weight meat head :mad: ) Whoo, that felt good! :) The best thing to do about 'society' is inform them by first informing yourself (read lots of books!) or, if all else fails, tell them to f-%^$ off. :D

I just can't help myself! :banana: Whehoooo!

Rosemary

02-23-2003, 04:33 PM

I asked my 4-year-old son, who has always been vegan, and he immediately replied, "Easy!"

erasmus

02-23-2003, 06:01 PM

complex issue. It was very hard at first. Finding all the information, getting rid of leather and silk clothing. I wasn't much of a cook but I'm learning. It's getting a lot easier! Of course, it's only been 7 months, but it gets easier every day! :laugh:

Vegit-8

02-23-2003, 06:53 PM

No black or white here.
Being vegan is easy as far as I am concerned. Becoming vegan is something of another story. As some of you indicated, becoming vegan requires educating yourself, unless of course your idea of a vegan diet is vegan baked beans and toast.
Any time we are changing our lifestyle / habits we are giving up something familiar and this is difficult at some level, after all we have invested in our actions and education to that point. To paraphrase Dr. Scott Peck "living involves change and change is painful" . This does not mean it cannot at the same time be wonderful, exciting, rewarding, fulfilling, and so on.
And yes, putting-up with the nay-sayers, the doubters, and critics can be trying, especially in the early stages.
Another consideration is a persons motivation for adopting a veg*n way of life. Depending on your reasons you may have a better or more difficult time staying with your commitment.
If you have a very strong WHY (creating a must do attitude rather than a should do attitude) for doing something then you are far less likely to sway from your chosen path.
So my answer to the original question is an unequivocal yes and no.

:thumbsup: By the way, I want to say that I find the quality of discussion on Vegan Represent Forums to be exceptional.

May peace and joy be with you, and may you always know what you want, need, must have.

Jean

02-25-2003, 12:23 AM

I 've found that both becoming vegan and being vegan we're/are quite easy for me. It just seems like this is the way I'm supposed to be. I can't imagine ever eating animal products again.

misanthropy

02-25-2003, 01:42 AM

It's been very easy for me. Now, if you read my story in the Vegan Stories forum I did go on and off vegetarianism and veganism since I was 12. Why did I relapse? I really don't know why I did before. I guess I just wasn't thinking.

I do know that this time it's permanent! Vegit-8 is absolutely right about the strong "WHY" involved. I wouldn't ever be able to "go back". Not like I would want to anyway!

-- Ida :)

Lacykitten

02-25-2003, 08:29 AM

I myself found it really easy to go vegetarian when I did. It still sorta surprises me because I was a really big meat eater. Then again I would often 'thank' the animal that died for my food, which I guess shows a little more compassion than most people. I've always loved pretty much all animals including cows and pigs so that's also prolly why..

I guess when you DO have a really strong belief about something, altering your entire life can be very easy to do. Dropping cheese was a little harder because all the veggie cheeses sucked so bad, at least here lol.. and I was still under the ideas of, "Well, I need some form of cheese on stuff, or it won't taste good. Pizza without CHEESE????" type thing. Also, of course, vegetarian is one thing, vegan is fully another - my parents were worried about my health as a vegetarian, much less a vegan. Luckily my naturopath gave me and my mom the tiny push we needed so that I could go vegan and she could accept it as healthy. :)

I almost never find it hard to BE a vegan. I find some things insult me a little more now that I know what goes on.. like the phrase "squeal like a pig" automatically makes me think of those PETA videos where the pigs are having the sh*t beat out of them.. rather than before, when I guess I just equated pig squealing with a normal noise they make. I don't think that's anything to do with being vegan, just realizing what actually goes on with the animals and being disgusted to the point of nausea with that stuff...

My friend Colleen just recently went vegan (past few months) and she also found it really easy. She liked vegetarian food a lot, would eat it half the time, then went vegan after talking to me, to prove she could do it, and she's found it incredibly easy as well.

Then again.. when the place "your gang" hangs out has soy steamers, soy lattes, soy milk for your coffee, and pita and hummus - life is easy and good. ;)

..... I haven't really encountered a time when veganism is hard. Perhaps cos I'm still somewhat shy, when I need to explain something, or get someone to change gloves when handling food - I feel weird and get nervous, but it's.. never really hard, just hardER?

lol.. I dunno. Most part - EASY PEASY!

sheila

03-01-2003, 11:04 PM

I think the food part is easier than the personal care and cleaning supply part. But it gets easier. Having the internet and message boards is a really huge help for getting information and support.

Emiloid

08-11-2005, 01:22 PM

*bump* Let's get some new opinions here. :)

gladcow

08-11-2005, 01:25 PM

Easy peasy! For me. While in my home with people who have like minds. The hardest part, as I have mentioned before, is sending my kids out into "the world" (read: school and/or friends homes) when most of the people in "the world) (read: USA) have no friggin idea what veganism means or what we "can" eat and why it's important to me. The rest, as I said, is easy! :D

bird

08-11-2005, 01:28 PM

With vegan husband who cooks: easy
Without vegan husband who cooks: expensive

stegan

08-11-2005, 01:33 PM

meh- ain't no thing. :D

attackferret

08-11-2005, 02:25 PM

I thought it was hard! Apparently I'm the only one. Actually, I still think it's kind of difficult. As a vegetarian, I never thought about what I ate. I just ate whatever was available that wasn't meat, and I never had any problems. As a vegan, I have to think about what to eat all the time, and I've had issues (like my nails were really crap for a while, which I'm sure indicated malnutrition on some degree). If I don't pay attention to what I eat now, it's a lot easier for me to not feel all that fantabulous.

So, it's worth it, but I would never say it's easy.

iamtheqbu

08-11-2005, 07:39 PM

The easy part of being vegan is the diet. It's not hard to find good vegan food, even in college. The hard part is explaining yourself to your friends and family (especially if your father is a self centered conservative anal retentive "I'm always right, you're wrong" "I'm smart, you're dumb" lazy good-for-nothing over weight meat head :mad: ) Whoo, that felt good! :) The best thing to do about 'society' is inform them by first informing yourself (read lots of books!) or, if all else fails, tell them to f-%^$ off. :D

I just can't help myself! :banana: Whehoooo!

Wow! It's amazing how much I've changed in more than 2 years. That was posted only a few months after I became vegan, when I was the only vegan in my family and only my sister was supportive. Now my sister and mom are both vegan and my dad would be veggie if not for the occasional chicken product. Since my family is now 100% supportive, I'd say it's 100% easier. Being vegan, like many things, becomes easier with time. It becomes a good habit and people around you just get used to it even if they don't understand.

PS: I take back my previous post, I like my dad a little more now and telling people to $%^&* off is not a good idea ;)

KKB

08-12-2005, 12:32 AM

Wow! It's amazing how much I've changed in more than 2 years. That was posted only a few months after I became vegan, when I was the only vegan in my family and only my sister was supportive. Now my sister and mom are both vegan and my dad would be veggie if not for the occasional chicken product. Since my family is now 100% supportive, I'd say it's 100% easier. Being vegan, like many things, becomes easier with time. It becomes a good habit and people around you just get used to it even if they don't understand.

PS: I take back my previous post, I like my dad a little more now and telling people to $%^&* off is not a good idea ;)
what a wonderful (and encouraging!) progression :happy:
the hardest part of veganism for me is trying to rationalize it to others, explain that consuming cow's milk is not natural, etc.
i don't miss anything (as far as food) that i had to give up in order to be vegan...so that part is a no-brainer.

fridayiminlove

08-12-2005, 05:33 AM

I think it's considerably easy, it makes making a choice at restaurants easier and it allows you to be more creative in what you can eat (ever substitute a hash brown for a meat patty?) and things like that. I don't have difficulty because meat/cheese/dairy does not appeal to me at all, I don't think "darn, if i wasn't vegan, i could've ordered the prime rib or the eggs with a side of bacon", it's about as appetizing as someone offering a dish of toxic garbage decay.

once I decided to go vegan, it was really easy to stay vegan. What took me a long time was getting to a place emotionally and logically where veganism made sense. It took me years.

So, in a way, being vegan is really easy, but for some of us, getting there takes time. But it can take a long time for people to get to a place where they're really ready.

pleather

08-16-2005, 09:58 AM

once I decided to go vegan, it was really easy to stay vegan. What took me a long time was getting to a place emotionally and logically where veganism made sense. It took me years.

Exactly. Once you get to the place that you're going to make the decision, you think about all the animal suffering, and you say it's a no brainer. It's easy. I just stop eating meat, dairy, and eggs because it's not worth it. Getting to that place can be hard, especially if you don't know any vegans or have any support where you live.

Being vegan has been easy for me. I know that becoming vegan has been hard for some people I know, because they have had horrible reactions from their family and friends (students who still live with their parents) and others who struggle with giving up the diet they've known for their whole lives.

gladcow

08-16-2005, 10:08 AM

what's the *bump* thing all about then?

I'm still not so hot on these message boards ... :confused:

When someone wants to bring up a topic that may be forgotten or unknown (by some newer users) they post a "bump" to bring it back on the recent posts list.

arkaay123

08-16-2005, 10:44 AM

Easy , when Iam at home (or) able to come home at night atleast.

Last week, had to go to Pittsburg and stayed at a hotel for a week . There's not much variety then :(
Have to settle for veggie burgers,fruits and water.

Hippopotamine

08-16-2005, 11:49 AM

I find it easy at this point, but in the beginning it was difficult to take the final step from vegetarianism to veganism.

I had become accustomed to automatically accepting whatever food was offered to me a work, such as cookies, candy bars, cake, etc. The snacks offered a momentary escape from an otherwise monotonous day, even though I always knew the snacks were unhealthy and I always preferred healthy food. It doesn't make much sense now, but at the time it was a big leap just to refuse those disgusting snacks. How I finally did it was by realizing it's a matter of "just saying no" to anything non-vegan. Instead I started bringing my own healthy vegan snacks to keep at work, such as baby mixed greens and baby carrots. So easy!

At home I thought giving up cheese would be difficult because I loved it, but cheese does not appeal to me in any way now. I never missed it at all, that I remember.

Same with milk... before becoming vegan I thought I needed cow's milk for cereal to taste right, although otherwise I drank soy milk. But all vegan alternatives are slightly different, and, as I'm sure everyone here knows, once you get used to the new taste you realize it's actually way yummier than the non-vegan version.